Oct 07

30

Following the wettest summer on record in the UK, TravelRepublic.co.uk, the nation’s third most popular online travel agency, is recording unprecedented levels of bookings for Christmas holidays to sunshine destinations. Hotel room nights for Christmas holidays are up 240% year on year. With Christmas still nine weeks away, overseas hoteliers can expect to see a huge influx of UK visitors during the festive season.

The most popular destinations reflect the desire for some long-awaited sunshine. Holidays to Tenerife (up 176% year on year), Gran Canaria (up 244%), Lanzarote (up 120%), Fuerteventura (up 560%), Sharm el Sheikh (up 354%) and Benidorm (up 213%) are enjoying the greatest volume of bookings. The traditional favourites of the Costa del Sol (up 329%), the Algarve (up 261%) and Madeira (up 160%) are also performing well. One surprisingly popular destination is Marrakech. Perhaps the warm climate and the chance to escape the Christmas festivities altogether is the explanation?

Paul Furner, Managing Director of TravelRepublic.co.uk, commented “The combination of the terrible summer and the prospect of the clocks changing this weekend have prompted a surge in bookings for Christmas holidays to the sun.
Currently, a week’s holiday in Tenerife at Christmas, for example, is selling for as little as 280 pounds. With such competitive deals in the market and winter due to really bite at any moment, I would expect the trend to gather even more momentum in the coming weeks.”

About Travel Republic

• TravelRepublic.co.uk recently appeared for the first time in the IMRG-Hitwise Hot Shops List which ranks the UK’s top 50 most popular internet retailers, across all sectors. In the online travel agency sector within which it operates the TravelRepublic.co.uk website is now more popular than the likes of Opodo and ebookers.com. Only Expedia.co.uk and lastminute.com rank higher.

• Since its launch in 2003, Travel Republic’s sales have increased from £2.8 million to an impressive £108 million, with the business on track for over £200 million in the current financial year.

• Travel Republic caters for a broad range of customers including families, couples and groups – mainly taking a hard earned break in the sun. The TravelRepublic.co.uk website offers charter, low-cost and scheduled airlines, powerful rate shopping technology for hotel rooms and apartments, plus hotel reviews and resort guides written by its customers.